


Forgive

by murderbreak



Series: Readjust [2]
Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Aftermath, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Josh Lives, Josh is Part Wendigo, Josh is Sad, Light Angst, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 15:09:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10027400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murderbreak/pseuds/murderbreak
Summary: You've known Josh for a long time. You were there when everything happened. You forgive.





	

You finish making the tea in the kitchen before adding two sugars to the cup on the right, and then cream and honey to the one on the left. You mixed them both, humming softly to yourself a tune you remembered from the radio. You let the tea sit then, doing a couple of dishes in the sink before setting them in the sink. You grabbed the two mugs before making your way out to the living room.

 

“Hey there, handsome,” you coo softly, bringing Josh’s attention to you. He looked at you with those big pretty eyes you’ve always loved. You hand him the mug with two sugars and sit down next to him on the couch. You’re quiet, and so is he. He’s been quiet after everything that’s happened. He gets reminded of it every day, and he’s driven into silence. You don’t mind. You won’t push him. How could you?

 

He murmurs a soft thank you, and he stares down at his tea. From this angle, he looks like the Josh you remember, the one before that trip to the mountain, to his family’s little winter lodge, before their nightmare. 

 

Except Josh’s nightmare didn’t get to end. It never will. 

 

Josh’s nightmare is his own self. 

 

“I…” he tries, but his voice fails, and you let it because it’s okay. It’s rare enough he talks on his own, much less talks at all. You sip your tea and let him try again. “I-I’m so sorry,” he stutters out, turning towards you so you see the reason he’s apologizing in the first place. Where he started to go Wendigo when Hannah got him because Mike left him behind. You’ve never forgiven Mike for doing so.

 

His face is distorted, his mouth being the first part of him to begin to turn. His teeth were razor sharp, and a line of them shown through the split in his mouth on the left side of his face. It’d taken some of his sight too, for a while. He mostly has it back now, and he wears a color contact to keep it as normal as he can, but things aren’t the best on the left side. His daily reminder of what happened.

 

And then there’s you.

 

You know why he’s apologizing. You’d tried to visit him too early, when they had him in the hospital. You constantly checked on him then, making sure they were treating Josh right, making sure he really got help. He was particularly calm one day, and you asked to see him. They’d taken his straightjacket off, and you were trying to get him to come back to reality, to talk to you. You missed him. You told him you forgave him.

 

He snapped at you then, slashing at your face and leaving a scar up the corner of your mouth and another down your eye, taking some of your sight with it. It looked eerily similar to Josh’s, if it were flipped to the right side. You still forgave him. You always will. 

 

“I was… I wasn’t me, a-a-and I don’t even remember doing it,” he says. “T-they said that you… You said you forgave me, for what happened, and I just… I  _ attacked you _ .” Josh starts to shake, and you set down your mug and take his hands into yours, holding them tight, grounding him through this. This was hard for him, learning to deal with the damage he’s done. It’s bad enough that he’d been improperly treated through the years, but to add this to all the stress? It wasn’t good for him.

 

You didn’t mind. You loved Josh. You always have and you always will. He needed someone, after almost everyone has up and abandoned him. His parents hardly talk to him, so many of your friends keep their distance. He’s had no one, and you’ve decided to be his everyone.

 

He continues. “I'm the worst thing that could have happened to you, how could you..? How could you forgive me? After everything I've done, all the shit I put you through!” His hands clutch yours tighter, desperate, needing. He starts to shake more, and you see the breakdown coming. “I've done… I've done everyone I love so much fucking  _ harm _ and… It's my fault, it's all my fault, it's me, it's me it's me it’s me….” 

 

You pull your hands away from his and gently cup his face, forcing him to look at you. “Josh,” you say, but he's still murmuring about it being his fault, how he's the one who is to blame. “Josh,” you say, more firm now. He stops and he looks at you, and you can see that he’s far too close to the edge for him to handle. You have to pull him back, you know you do. “Listen to me,” you say, softer now. “It’s okay. What happened wasn’t your fault. I wish you would have been taking your meds --” you make a face, and he looks sheepish “--but what happened? That wasn’t your fault. I promise.”

 

You can see his eyes welling up, and your thumb gently brushes along where his mouth distorts, just grazing over the tips of the sharp teeth that poke out. “It’s not your fault. I forgive you.” He breaks then, crying in your hands, and you pull him to you, letting him cry into your chest while you stroke his hair. You whisper soft coos to him, telling him it’s okay, you’re here. You’re always going to be here. 

 

You let him cry for a little bit, cooing to him, continuing to run your fingers through his hair until you feel him stop, and after a moment you realize he’d fallen asleep on you. You laugh to yourself, watching him get the rest you knew he deserved. 

 

You weren’t lying before when you said you’d forgiven him. As you watch, you see the Josh you remember, the happy one, the one who was so pure and always took the extra strides to make you smile. The least you can do is the same for him. You miss this Josh. But you hope that, with time, and proper healing and care, he’ll come back. You hope that he’ll be able to smile, laugh, talk. You hope he’ll joke, he’ll live, he’ll be okay.

  
You hope he’ll learn to forgive himself like you’ve forgiven him.


End file.
